Nabokov, Nicolas [Nikolay]

Canada

Music by Calixa Lavallée (1842–91). Words by Adolphe Basile Routhier (1839–1920); English text by Robert Stanley Weir (1856–1926). Adopted in 1980.

Before it was officially adopted on 1 July 1980, O Canada! was widely used as a patriotic song. The official anthem before that date was God Save the King/Queen (see British Isles).

National anthems

Cape Verde

Music and words by Amilcar Lopes Cabral (1924–73). Adopted in 1975.

The anthem is also used by Guinea-Bissau.

National anthems

Central African Republic

Music by Herbert Pepper (b 1912). Words by Barthélémy Boganda (1910–59). Adopted in 1960.

National anthems

Chad

Music by Paul Villard (1899–1988). Words by Louis Gidrol (b 1922) and students from St Paul’s School, Fort Archambault. Composed in 1960, when Chad became independent.

National anthems

Chile

Music by Ramón Carnicer (1789–1855). Words by Eusebio Lillo (1826–1910). Present text officially adopted on 27 June 1941.

The first national anthem, Ciudadanos, el amor sagrado, was composed in 1819 by Manuel Robles to words by Bernardo de Vera y Pintado (1789–1826). Carnicer’s music replaced this in 1828, and in 1847, after the signing of a peace treaty between Spain and Chile, a new text was written by Lillo. Subsequent modifications were made to the anthem by Fabio Petris in 1907 and by Enrique Soro (1884–1954) in 1909.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

E. Pereira Salas: El centenario de la canción nacional de Chile (Santiago de Chile, 1948)

C. Canales Toro: Canción nacional de Chile (Santiago de Chile, 1960)

National anthems

China

Music by Nie Er (1912–35). Words by Tian Han (1898–1968). Composed in 1932 and adopted in 1949. The words were replaced by new ones in 1978 but were reinstated in 1982.

A national anthem of Tibet was presented in 1960 to the Dalai Lama by a group of scholars who had based the music on a piece of ancient Tibetan sacred music. The words were by Trijang Rinpoche. The anthem is not now used inside Tibet.

National anthems

Colombia

Music by Oreste Síndici (1837–1904). Words by Rafael Núñez (1825–94). First sung in 1887 and adopted in 1946.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

M. Aguilera: Historia del himno nacional de Colombia (Bogotá, 1958)

J. Durán Pombo: ‘Centenario del himno nacional de Colombia’, Bolétin de historia y antigüedades, lxxv (1988), 77–82

National anthems

Comoros

Music by Kamildine Abdallah (1943–82) and Said Hachim Sidi Abderemane (b 1942). Words by Said Hachim Sidi Abderemane. Adopted in 1978.

National anthems

Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Music and words by Boka di Mpasi Londi (b 1929).

The first national anthem of the Belgian Congo, Vers l’avenir (‘Le siècle marche et pose ses jalons’), was composed by François-Auguste Gavaert (1828–1908) in 1908, when the Congo was an independent state. It was replaced by La Brabançonne when the Congo became a Belgian colony. In 1960, when the country became independent again, a new anthem, Debout Kongolais, unis par le sort, was written by Joseph Lutumba and Simon-Pierre Boka. This was replaced by the anthem above after the country’s change of name from Congo (Kinshasa) to Zaïre in 1971. It is the most recent anthem available.

National anthems

Congo, Republic of the

Music and words by Jean Royer, Jacques Tondra and Jo Spadiliere.

The anthem was replaced in 1969 by Les trois glorieuses, with music by Philippe Mockovamy (b 1938) and words by Henri Lopes (b 1937), and was reinstated in 1991.

National anthems

Costa Rica

Music by Manuel María Gutiérrez (1829–87). Words by José María Zeledón (1877–1949). The music was adopted in 1853; the words were chosen as the result of a public competition in 1900.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

L.F. González: Himno nacional de Costa Rica: documentos relativos a la celebración del centenario, 1852 – 11 de junio – 1952 (San José, 1952)

National anthems

Côte d’Ivoire

Music by Pierre Michel Pango (b 1926). Words by Mathieu Ekra (b 1917), Joachim Bony and Pierre Marie Coty (b 1927). Adopted in 1960.

National anthems

Croatia

Music by Josip Runjanin (1821–78). Words by Anton Mihanović (1796–1861). Adopted in 1990.

The words were written in 1835, and the anthem was used in Croatia before it joined with other Balkan states in 1918 to form what in 1928 became Yugoslavia. The country became independent again in 1992. The music has been attributed also to Lichtenegger.